Sports

December 14, 2014

I'm a couple days behind on the local news about our latest sports franchise-- the Burlingame Dragons. The Dragons are a development league team for the S.J. Earthquakes and will play right here in B'game at BHS. The Under 23 team announced last Wednesday that the team would play in the USL Premier Development League.

With the help of our Major League Soccer partner, the San Jose Earthquakes, we celebrated the launch of our new soccer club with the city of Burlingame. It was amazing to have such a show of support from everyone associated with the Dragons.

You can find their website here. As a former Washington School dad, I particularly like the green and white colors the team has chosen. And the mission statement is pretty good too

The mission of the Burlingame Dragons Football Club is to bring a world-class soccer experience to the people who call our world-class city home.

November 16, 2014

The St. Catherine's Parish Center held its "grand opening" or christening/blessing today as the project is finished and the gym, kitchen and meeting rooms are open for business. The project has been on-going for some time as we noted eleven months ago here. While simply designed, the building is a huge improvement over the old auditorium.

Assistant Bishop Bob McElroy presided over noon mass and the ensuing blessing of the building and the basketball court. As an OLA parishoner growing up, the Bishop noted that the blessing applied to everything except games St. C's plays verses OLA and St. Gregory's! We'll see about that. Here is councilwoman Ann Keighran delivery a welcome message and the center court insignia.

November 15, 2014

Under a roasting sun more reminiscient of a BHS graduation ceremony than a Fall classic, the Panthers held on to The Paw for another year by beating San Mateo 30-21 in the 87th annual contest. The annual spectacle was even bigger than usual since the U.S. Marine Corps selected the game as one of a hundred Great American Rivalry games--which of course it is.

In 2004, iHigh, Inc. created the Great American Rivalry Series to celebrate this uniquely American sport and the cultural phenomenon of “Friday Night in America.” The Series has since spotlighted high school football games in nearly 40 states. The Series shines the spotlight on top high school football rivalries across the nation, where long-standing traditions are valued, expectations are sky-high, and fans are committed.

The Panthers jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the strength of a pair of Gindraux brothers' TD passes, but could not pull away from the Bearcats who benefited from some timely BHS fumbles and a long punt return TD. As usual, the game was only part of the spectacle with cheer squads and the bands from both schools performing at half time. The game is also being streamed in replay at BAOSN TV. Big gets bigger every year!

Here is one one touchdown pass, the Marine display and the awarding of The Paw by the principal which will go back in the building until next year.

By the way, the B'game Police were very kind to have announcer John Horgan warn the crowd three times that if they were illegally parked on Oak Grove, they would be towed. The new bleachers looked great, too.

October 30, 2014

I don't often post event driven items here. But this one is worth it. Cause we're all in the mood to celebrate our SF Giants historic moment and we can celebrate Burlingame history at the same time.

A.) Today, Thursday, Octonber 30th between 4pm-7pm visit YogurtLand near Safeway on Primrose and part of the proceeds will go to The Burlingame Historical Society.

B.) After your yogurt come by the Burlingame Public Library Lane Room for a presentation called "Earthquake. 25 year later" presented by former Emergency PD officer John Parkin. Presentation starts at 7pm.

C.) And don't forget the Burlingame Hillsborough Museum will be open on Sunday, November 2, 1pm-4pm.

Here's the World Championship line-up (minus lead-off hitter Gregor Blanco that Fox cut off the screen). Amazing how close it is to the 2012 line-up seen here.

October 23, 2014

The issue of sharing use and costs for the swimming pool at BHS goes back as far as the current deal (1999). The Daily Journal piece recaps some of the history and gets to the essence of the issue here

Still, the city could continue its current contract with the district, which it has accused of poor upkeep of the pool and “nickel-and-diming” the city. The district, on the other hand, has said the city is overusing the pool and the Burlingame Aquatic Club, or BAC, that operates the pool, is not doing a good job. The crux of the issue most recently, and $32,000 cost, was heaters that had gone out on the pool. The heater was replaced in February 2013, with the district installing state-of-the-art, energy-efficient Lochinvar heaters, according to the district.

“Close to day one, this pool has had a lot of problems,” said Parks and Recreation Director Margaret Glomstad. “There’s going to be a sizable commitment to fix some of the problems (deck, equipment and updates to changing rooms).”

Another possibility is changing the terms of the contract. Currently, the city and district divide capital costs 50/50. The district’s use of the pool is minimal, with it using the pool about 10 percent of the time, according to an independent audit by the district.

They are going to have to work out the cost-sharing or stop some programs because my sense of the community resolve is that there isn't enough support to go buy land and build another, all-city-owned pool anywhere in town. There might be an option to get a similar sharing ageement built into one of the big projects that are floating around town, but a 100% city-owned project wasn't on the overstuffed priority list to begin with and won't cut it with the voters.

July 02, 2014

I'm not one of those people for whom the BHS football field bleachers hold fond memories because I am not a native Panther, but I bet there are more than a few Voice readers that have a wistful thought or two looking at these photos. Was it that first kiss? A Pabst Blue Ribbon before the brand was cool? Do tell.

Here is the current state of the replacement project. One wonders if they tried to sell off the seat boards or just put the claw to work? Some will buy almost anything to recapture a bit of their youth!

June 27, 2014

The B'game Music in the Park series starts this Sunday at 1pm in Washington Park. This year's line-up has four bands scheduled:

June 29 Soul & R&B

July 13 Country

July 20 "Dance Variety"

July 27 Rock Hits

Perhaps another will be added. It would be nice to see some blues like last year on August 3rd.

Update: I made it over to hear the band (West Grand Boulevard, named after the street Motown Records was located on) today. Nice crowd and great weather. I stopped by the BYBA sponsored baseball tourney at Bayside Park as well. I also appreciated the Goodwill e-Waste day in Lot O yesterday--got rid of some e-junk. While we are talking about summer events, don't forget that the ArtzFest has been renamed (again) to Burlingame on the Avenue as it returns to the Avenew on Aug 16 and 17. And the Lions' Cars in the Park will be back in Washington Park on July 26th. Both fun. Here is the band from today.

June 08, 2014

The Daily Journal has a piece about Kenny, Danny and Mikey Diekroeger's baseball careers--the two oldest having been drafted into Major League Baseball.

The Diekroeger brothers wreak havoc on sports media. And even MLB Network is not immune.

After it was announced Friday on the MLB Draft webcast that Danny Diekroeger had been selected in the 10th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, even the likes of juggernaut analysts Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis had to backtrack on initially reading Kenny Diekroeger’s bio of having previously been drafted out of Menlo School.

The trio of brothers from Woodside have plenty in common to confuse. All have graduated from Menlo. Come the fall, all will have attended Stanford, as youngest brother Mikey Diekroeger embarks on his collegiate baseball career. And as of Friday, two have been drafted by MLB. That number could change when the draft concludes Saturday with rounds 11-40.

The trio may be from Woodside now, but they cut their baseball teeth here in B'game playing BYBA ball at Bayside Park, playing summer tournament ball including going to Cooperstown with the B'game teams. Now that summer is upon us, look for this year's tournament teams practicing and playing out at the Bayfront. You never know when you will be able to say "I saw him when.....".

June 02, 2014

You will have to click through to the Daily Journal bit about the new Broadway Tennis Center to see the cute picture, but here is the text

From left to right, Frank York, President, W. L. Butler Construction, Burlingame Councilman Jerry Deal, Broadway Tennis Center’s Anne and Horacio Matta, Burlingame Mayor Michael Brownrigg and Burlingame Councilman Ricardo Ortiz break ground at 60 Edwards Court in Burlingame, the new Broadway Tennis Center. The center is the first community-based tennis facility to be built in the San Francisco Bay Area in 20 plus years.

It's tucked right between Mills Creek and Easton Creek off Rollins here.

January 04, 2014

Congrats to the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints on their NFL wins today--both great games. Personally I am glad the Saints get to go to Seattle before we hopefully go. While we B'gamers are watching the Niners tomorrow in frigid Green Bay we need to bear in mind that we want the Burlingame Packer to do well also. That's right, #69 in green is a B'game guy that you can read about here. His folks must be very proud--and nervous since the Niners are 2 1/2 point favorites!

Here's a photo of David Bakhtiari so you know who you are looking for during the game. Big stuff for a rookie!

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